DRW Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
:Discuss this game in our forums Dead Rising 2: Off the Record is a re-interpretation of the Fortune City outbreak in Dead Rising 2 in which Frank West is the lead character. The story is non-canon to the overall storyline in the series, a "what-if" alternate reality had Frank been in Fortune City to cover the outbreak. Frank even states in the trailer: "What would I have done?"Spencer, On The Record With Dead Rising 2: Off The Record’s Producer, Siliconera, (July 17, 2011). "It’s definitely a what-if, a parallel universe. Canon would be more of the Dead Rising 2 story with Chuck Greene and how that launched into the Case West story as well." The game was released for the Xbox 360, Play Station 3, and PC as a full retail disc for $39.99. In a quickly retracted June 30 posting, Capcom originally stated Off the Record will be released in North America on the 11th October 2011, and in Europe on the 14th.Captivate 2011: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Capcom, (April 12, 2011). Caoili, Eric. Capcom Announces Dragon's Dogma, Dead Rising 2 Spin-Off, Gamasutra, (April 12, 2011). The game "will ship as a physical product, not downloadable content". Chester, Nick. Preview: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Destructoid, (April 12, 2011).Andy, E3 2011: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Hands-On Impressions, vgrevolution, (June 08, 2011)Jonah Falcon, IGN - Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Dated, IGN.Dead Rising 2: Off the Record briefly dated October 14, Strategy Informer. (July 1, 2011). On July 20, 2011 these dates were officially confirmed.Brendan Sinclair, Dead Rising 2 goes Off the Record Oct. 11, GameSpot, (July 20, 2011). Introduction The entire game is a "What If?" scenario where Frank West covered the Fortune City outbreak, instead of Chuck Greene. After surviving the Dead Rising zombie outbreak, Frank West quickly became a bit of a celebrity. After authoring a successful book, he is given his own talk show. But like many "flash in the pan" celebrities, he squanders his opportunities and soon finds that his fifteen minutes are up.Chester, Nick. Preview: Dead Rising 2: Off The Record, Destructoid, (April 12, 2011). Desperate to get back on top, or at least earn some money, West is offered an opportunity that he hopes will things around. The producers of Terror is Reality, the American Gladiators-style zombie-killing television show, invite him to appear as a special guest. Down on his luck and thinking things couldn't get any worse, he heads to Fortune City to get back in the spotlight. The opening moments of Off the Record parallel that of Dead Rising 2 in one way and one way only -- it starts off with the hero participating in a Terror is Reality event. At the beginning of the event, West, wearing a wrestling outfit, is lifted via platform to the center of a ring surrounded by a chain-link fence. Joining him in the ring is a group of zombies in which he must defeat as many as possible within a certain time limit. There is a grinder on each corner of the ring, and West can jump on top of these to activate them. They chew up zombies factory machines mulching meat. The twins from Dead Rising 2 attack West. "This must be so embarrassing for you," one says. "Doesn't look like those baldness remedies worked too well," says the other. Yin-Poole, Wesley. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Eurogamer (April 12, 2011). Even though he won the event, West feels that he has lost his dignity and decides to take his prize money and get out of Fortune City. As he is leaving, Frank observes from a series of catwalks above a large, warehouse-like room as TK speaks with Brandon Whittaker. TK hands Brandon a suitcase full of cash, for a package that looks like a time bomb and a keycard. Frank takes a picture of this gaining prestige points.Rosenberg, Adam. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record First Look Preview, G4tv, (April 12, 2011). Frank is caught eavesdropping, and Frank must kill three mercenaries with melee attacks. The outbreak occurs shortly after which is similar to Dead Rising 2. Frank must fight his way through the back corridors of the arena, eventually making his way out to the main entrance and, eventually, the strip. As Frank makes his way out, a few references to Dead Rising 2 can be seen. A TIR poster of Frank in his wrestling outfit is left only half-covering a similar poster of Chuck Greene. Frank also comes across a discarded child's backpack and portable video game device in an empty green room. After escaping the arena, Frank finds Fortune City overrun with zombies. He makes his way to the safehouse, where he meets Ray Sullivan, the only security officer that made it to the safe house. Sullivan tells Frank that he knows he is infected. Frank, infected by the zombie virus as part of the Dead Rising canon, will need to find and use Zombrex at regular intervals. Frank pulls out some Zombrex to prove he has it and then Sullivan lets him in. Story After watching a news report with Stacey Forsythe, he begins investigating the claims that CURE is responsible for the outbreak. He meets up with an old friend of his, Rebecca Chang, and together they venture off to the Arena to check out the video monitors that recorded Brandon arming explosives, only to find the security room has been ransacked. With a dead end, Frank returns to the Safe House after Stacey calls him, saying that Sullivan is threatening to kick her out. Later, the two observe Brandon on the security monitors dragging a woman into the bathrooms at Uranus Zone. Frank heads over there to confront Brandon, only to witness Vikki murdered and is suddenly attacked by Brandon. After he is defeated, he questions Stacey with the information he got out of Brandon. Stacey reassures Frank that Brandon was only a new recruit and probably working for TK. Spotting more people on the monitors, Frank investigates several men moving equipment in the Underground. The men are goons working for Tyrone King, loading equipment onto a train under TK's orders. When Frank is spotted, TK takes off on the train but Frank manages to board at the last minute. After defeating the mercenaries on board, he confronts TK, only to be shot at and separated from his as TK unlatches the locomotive from the rest of the cars. After returning to the Safe House, explosions are felt and it turns out TK is robbing the city's casinos. Frank stops the robberies and saves Rebecca from an explosion from the armored van outside the Americana Casino. Brought back to the Safe House, Rebecca explains that she has a meeting with her source later that night. When Frank goes to meet up with Rebecca at an Americana Casino restaurant, it is revealed that Rebecca has been kidnapped by TK. He demands $1,000,000 in exchange for her life. After running around the city collecting money, Frank heads to the Shoal Nightclub where TK's Bodyguard takes the money and leaves as Amber and Crystal Bailey show up with the tied-up Rebecca. The twins are eventually defeated as one is killed and the other commits suicide. Rebecca is saved again and brought to the Safe House once more. Rebecca informs Frank that TK is planning to leave the city via helicopter that is to land on the Fortune City Hotel rooftop. The pair make their way to the hotel and manage to cause TK's Helicopter to crash, killing the pilot and bodyguard while TK was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious. Now locked up at the Safe House, the survivors await rescue. Frank and Rebecca go out to the streets to film and photograph the military rescue, only to witness it go horribly wrong as gas is released and the soldiers are slaughtered. Frank spots Rebecca running through the streets and he goes after her. He finds Rebecca in an underground parking lot beneath the Yucatan Casino, captured by the now-crazy Sergeant Dwight Boykin. He is forced to battle the deranged commander in order to save Rebecca, who is once again brought back to the Safe House. The survivors discuss about what happened to the military squad and Rebecca says the gas must have mutated the zombies. As Frank goes out to the Underground to investigate the origin, Sullivan warns that another rescue is to be attempted, but if it fails, a firebombing will be called in which the entire city will be eradicated. Frank finds out that a Phenotrans operation has been set up in which they have been collecting Queens and the gas has been used to quicken the harvesting process, as it mutates the zombies to force out the Queens after killing them. Frank defeats a number of mercenaries and kills Mark Bradson and Pearce Stephens, two hostile Phenotrans scientists. He takes their computer and shows the evidence to Stacey, Sullivan, and Rebecca. Just as Rebecca was going to call her station for rescue, she is shot in the stomach by Stacey, who stole Sullivan's gun. Sullivan then takes a bullet in the chest and falls to the ground. Frank is about to be shot when Sullivan attacks her, only to be shot down twice more, killing him. Frank then tackles Stacey but she manages to escape, though he was able to pull off her fake ponytail. Chasing her out to Fortune Park, Frank finds several harvesters that have been deployed with Phenotrans Mercenaries guarding them. He kills the armed goons and destroys the harvesting equipment before facing Stacey in a final show down at Uranus Zone. When he arrives, Stacey reveals she is a Phenotrans Agent going by the codename of "Agent S." They have a lengthy argument about the morals of outbreaks, then she attacks him. He is able to destroy the machine she resides in and fight her in the machine's cockpit. She is thrown out of the cockpit, but drags Frank with her to the ground where she beats him and retrieves her gun. She is about to shoot him when he rolls out of the way and she is crushed to death by the falling machine. Frank returns to the Safe House as Tamara Stein and Skylar Ali, the last of the survivors, are ready to be evacuated. He asks about Rebecca's and Sullivan's bodies being loaded but the two don't know anything about it. Simon Bostwick calls out to Frank saying that they need to leave but Frank refuses to leave without making sure the dead have been flown out of the city. The helicopter leaves and Frank heads to the office to find Sullivan still there, but Rebecca missing, only her press tag remaining. Overtime Now standing alone in the safe house, Frank gets a call from TK, telling him that Rebecca is alive and if he wants to save her from her wounds, he has to go around the city to get supplies for her, along with items for TK. After getting the items and returning to the arena, Frank is knocked out by TK where he awakens in the arena and is forced to survive against the zombies during the TIR game. While TK watches from a catwalk, Rebecca slowing crawls over to a rope and pushes it down to Frank, then pushes a button to make the rope pull up. Rebecca is then knocked out again as Frank grasps on to the rope and is lifted onto the catwalk. Frank and TK then engage in battle, and soon TK grabs Frank and attempts to choke him and toss him over the edge of the catwalk, but Frank flips TK off the platform. He then gets Rebecca and they leave the arena together. Timeline Endings Features :See Comparisons between Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record Development Off the Record executive producer, Jason Leigh explains: "Originally, the plan was that we were going to do a 'Director's Cut' of Dead Rising 2. Capcom has a long history of successful 'Director's Cuts," especially with the Resident Evil series, and we wanted to bring that treatment to the Dead Rising franchise...But when Dead Rising 2 was first announced, something strange happened...Fans of the franchise were excited for its return, and the development team was confident players would click with the game's strong new hero, Chuck Greene. But the feedback was clear. Many felt that something was missing. That "something" was Frank West, as fans asked, "Why did you take our hero away?...What this did for us and for this product was to create an incredibly interesting opportunity. What if, instead of doing a director's cut, what if we re-envisioned the outbreak in Fortune City with Frank West as the hero. What would that do to missions? What would that do to story? What would that do to the gameplay, bringing him back with his camera?" Marketing Dead Rising 2: Off the Record was first announced on on April 12, 2011 at Captive 2011, a Capcom sponsored event.Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Trailer, Details Released, Cinemablend, (April 12, 2011). Some of the game's new components were revealed at the E3 Expo in June 2011, including the Electric Crusher, Cosplay Warrior Skills Pack, and Chuck's jacket. A facebook page (April 22, 2011) and youtube page (July 26, 2011) were created to promote Off the Record.Dead Rising 2: Off The Record Official Dead Rising's Channel, youtube. (July 26, 2011).Dead Rising, Facebook (April 22, 2011). In regards to criticisms that Capcom is cashing in, Leigh stated that "There might be a possibility of about this release...but that's certainly not how we're regarding this game. We're regarding this game as something that is actually very different and very fresh and very new. Yes it is Fortune City, it's the Fortune City outbreak, but in this re-envisioning and bringing Frank back into the game, even that first 15 minutes is quite different than it was." "If fans have any reservations about this, hopefully the stuff we're rolling out in the next several months as we approach the release in the fall, things like E3 which is next, there will be more big announcements and more of those big features being shown off, very quickly people will realize, wow, there's a lot of added value in this game."Priest, Simon. Capcom defends against 'cash-in' cries at DR2: Off the Record, Streategy Informer, (April 13, 2011).Fletcher, J.C. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record puts Frank West in Chuck Greene's shoes, Joystiq, (April 12, 2011). "But mostly, it's an "enhancement" to the amount of money Capcom can get out of Dead Rising 2. Between this and the XBLA games, this is the fourth game to bear the title Dead Rising 2." ;Browser demo for free align=right } Eurogamer has Off the Record demo online for free. EXPIRED? Reception Off The Record received average reviews, with a score of 73 and 72 on Metacritic for the Xbox 360metacritic and PlayStation 3 respectively.metacritic Gametrailers gave the game an overall rating of 8.2 out of 10.Gametrailers IGN gave it a 7 out of 10.IGN GameSpot gave the title a 7 out of 10 rating, praising the core game but criticizing the lack of improvements and the sandbox mode's perceived lack of depth.gamespot Game Informer, by contrast, gave the game a 9.5/10 (the same score as the original) saying that "Frank's photography adds another layer to the already deep gameplay," and that "by itself, the sandbox mode is an incentive to buy Dead Rising 2."Jeff Cork, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Review, Game Informer, Issue 223, (November 2011). As of 2 February, 2012 the game had sold 500,000 units outside of Japan.Wesley Yin-Poole, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record "faring well", Euro Gamer, (2 February, 2012). Trivia *In the background of the loading screen, a portion of text on a tabloid infers that a former Terror Is Reality contestant had been administered emergency CPR after a motorcycle crash. This may actually be referring to Chuck Greene, who is not seen anywhere at the Arena prior to and during the outbreak (though a cardboard stand of his likeness can be spotted in the locker room halls). It is not stated when this article was printed. *Action movie star Clint Rockfoot is again found on Off the Record combo card posters. *Destructiod writes: "Off the Record isn't just changed in terms of adding photography to the mix. The entire world has been transformed to reflect our new story. Posters of Chuck Greene promoting his appearance on Terror is Reality are now covered with advertisements of Frank doing the same, for example." *Greene is also the second character in Off the Record's co-op mode.Frushtick, Russ. 'Dead Rising 2: Off The Record' First Look - Go West, Young Man, MTV, (April 12, 2011). *Frank is older in this game. To show this, when Frank idles too long he will stretch out his back and groan a little bit. *On the pause menu, the two red dice on the right side of the screen have a different number face up every time the pause menu is brought up. *During the cred-ts that roll after the "regular" game ending the track, "His Name's Frank West" by lifeseeker. After completing Overtime Mode, the cred-t-roll features the track, "Ending Cred-ts Music", composed by Oleksa Lozowchuk, which is a new "jazzier", lounge-style version of Mall Music with a prominent saxaphone playing the lead melody, rather than a piano. Video Gallery /Gallery}} Map See also *Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Concept Art *Comparisons between Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record * Off the Record Youtube videos - Over 30 game play videos posted three days before official release date. External links *Puzzle, Capcom Japan, Puzzle game *Shooting, Capcom Japan, Shooting game References Category:Dead Rising 2: Off the Record Category:Games